Answer: Often referred to by its abbrev., the WI, the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK, providing members with educational opportunities, the chance to take part in wide variety of activities, and to campaign for women’s welfare.

AILMENT :Anagram of(doctor) LATE INcontaining(catching) M(abbrev. for the male sex).

15 Take issue (6)

KIDNAP : Cryptic defn: The issue,child is “kid”, and the whole word denotes to snatch,take for the purpose of extorting a ransom, but kidnapping is not restricted to your kid. The –nap suffix is now used in words like artnap, starnap, petnap (not to be confused with catnap) or anything-valuable-nap.

Answer: What John (but goes by “Jack”) was for the UK from 2001-2006. Not to be confused with another Jack Straw, one of the leaders of the 14C Peasants’ Revolt in England (a nod to the latter by the former? or self-styling by the former, if you want to be ungenerous?

25 Engaged again; calmly submissive (8)

RESIGNED : RE-SIGNED(with the hyphen, could mean to sign on again,engaged again, as in “P is not re-signing with his football club, …”).

Answer: Without the hyphen, calmly submissive,accepting without resistance, as in “…and the club is resigned to it.”

26 Tiger’s first hit bunker (4)

TRAP : T(initial letter,…’s first of “Tiger”) + RAP(hit,knock).

Defn: A sand trap,hazard on the golf course, where even Tiger Woods sometimes finds himself in – he’s only human after all.

Down

1 Conductor is likely to make this movementrelaxed (8)

DOWNBEAT : Double defn:. 1st: The downward movement of an orchestra’s conductor’s baton to indicate the first accented beat of a measure; and 2nd: Descriptive of someone who is unstressed – and not causing stress either.

2 Almost bashful objection (5)

DEMUR : “Demure”,bashful, as with innocent and young maidens minus its last letter,almost. Nice surface.

Answer: Used as a noun, an objection that has been raised, eg. in a law court.

4 Chief of Staff to dismiss cavalryman (7)

COSSACK : COS(abbrev. of Chief of Staff in the military) + SACK(to dismiss,fire from an appointment).

Answer: Also adept at dancing.

5 Newspaper editor on tour – something that makes an impression on the board (7,7)

PRINTED CIRCUIT : PRINT(a printed publication, such as a newspaper or magazine) + ED(abbrev. for editor – and a few other things) placed above(on, in a down clue) CIRCUIT(the route taken for a roundtrip,tour).

6 Try to pull cart up enclosed area (9)

COURTYARD : COURT(the old fashioned word for trying to attract,pull, in the situation where the object is of the opposite sex) + reversal of(up, in a down clue) DRAY(a cart for carrying heavy loads).

ENGAGEMENT RING : Cryptic defn: The gift from the man who is considered a suitable candidate,a match for the woman receiving the gift, with the prospect of marriage,the next match. The MOTM phrase is from sporting events.

Answer: A card game for 2 players, not with a full deck – the cards, not the players.

14 Fight rugby player – cut head to toe (4,5)

LOCK HORNS : LOCK(or lock forward, a rugby player in either of the 2 positions in the middle of the second row of the scrum) + HORNS(“shorn”,cut with its initial letter,head moved to the other end,its toe, in a down clue).

16 Run then collapse? Sign of distress (8)

TEARDROP : TEAR(run quickly) plus(then) DROP(collapse).

18 Someone desperate to enter stake – but not quickly (7)

ANDANTE : DAN(reference to Desperate Dan, a character in the British comic, The Dandy, and its successor) contained in(to enter) ANTE{the amount of money,stake each poker player contributes to the pool, before (hence “ante”) the cards are dealt, and also the amount representing the share any one participant has in a joint venture}. An amusing surface of a reluctant poker player down on his/her luck and money.

Answer: A musical direction to play in a moderately slow tempo,not quickly.

19 Lying tethered up outside church (6)

DECEIT : Reversal of(up, in a down clue) TIED(tethered) containing(outside) CE(abbrev. for Church of England).

Defn: As a noun.

22 Part female rejected? He might not (5)

ACTOR : “factor”{one of the elements,part contributing to a consequence, as in “morale was a factor in their success” minus(rejected) “f”(abbrev. for the female sex)}.

Answer: The he in the clue who might accept,not reject, a role,a part. A nice WIWD(wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 19th, 2012 at 12:02 am and is filed under Independent.
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